Syon House with Sunflowers

[peripatetic]

I took this shot last summer, but I'm still not sure about it, so I would value your opinions.

Syon House is situated a few hundred yards back from the Thames. Access is not easy, and generally you have to shoot from across the river on the Kew side.

Photo #2 will show the kind of shot one usually is able to get, with lots of foreground clutter and usually including the Thames.

One day from inside Kew Gardens, about a half-mile from Syon House, I happened across a large field of daisies and Sunflowers, but from the right angle, and with the camera about 6ft from the ground it was possible to use a telephoto lens to get Syon House at a good size in the frame and fill the foreground with out-of-focus yellow flowers.

A couple of issues that I still have with it - the house is on sloping ground in #2 and the sunflowers at an irregular angle, so although the house itself is perfectly level (check it out in photoshop using a grid if you don't believe me) it doesn't really look level.

The big separation between the sunflowers and the house does sort of make it look like I could have photoshopped in the flowers, though of course I didn't.

I do think perhaps it would have been better to get more of the vertical dimension of Syon House in the frame, somewhere in the middle between #1 and #2, but unfortunately I didn't have a ladder to stand on, I was already standing on a fold-up chair!

The question remains though, does it work for you?

[peripatetic]

The more usual kind of shot one is restricted to is something like this, also with a medium-telephoto to cut out some very nasty-looking riverbank.

[kenmck15]

i lke the 2nd shot

nice b&w conversion. That gloomy look really suits the subject

ken

[peripatetic]

Ah thanks, actually I was hoping for feedback on shot #1, #2 is only there for reference.

I guess the fact that it is the one you commented on is an indication of how well #1 works though.

:O

[In search of Syd]

I can appreciate the effort you have put into this Craig, but for me it seems lacking in something. It's a well executed shot etc but . . . I can't put my finger on it. It would work great in a Kew Garden magazine as an illustration to the history of the place, the architectural significance etc . . . but not a stand alone image imo.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great shot undoubtedly.

Regards,

Syd

[SteveDak]

Very Nice Craig, I actually prefer the first. Although I generally prefer B&W for this type of shot, in this instance it looks a little cold and barren to me (Wuthering Heights type of bleakness)

I wonder if the first shot wouldn't in fact benefit from the flowers being given just a little bit more focus -I think it would bring the shot alive and breakdown that clear distinction between the two elements. Well worth persevering with IMO.

[KENNETHD]

Hey Craig...

My take on the first is that the flowers in the fore are too strong an influence. Unless you wanted it that way, I think they rob the structure in the background of a lot of attention.

Kd

[Godzillza]

I personally prefer the B&W conversion, although the colour shot with the sunflowers is also very effective. You could probably sell them both to the House for their tourist brochures!

The B&W image is a little marred by the weird looking skip on the ground towards the right-hand side, and what looks like perhaps some scaffolding stacked against the pillar to the left - were they busy renovating do you think?

[buddhasghost]

peripatetic wrote:

The question remains though, does it work for you?

I would absolutely LOVE to see a version of this with the sunflowers in focus as well as the structure. :-)